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Each month, Enneagram expert and podcaster Sarajane Case shares a book recommendation for each Enneagram type on her well-loved Instagram account, @enneagramandcoffee. We asked Case, a coach and writer who also happens to be a type 7, to give us the inside scoop on the latest reads she recommends for each type. Read on for her April selections.

In my years as a coach, I’ve never found a tool more useful than the Enneagram for helping to fast-track self-awareness. The Enneagram is a magical personality typing tool with ancient roots. It pinpoints the motivations, basic fears and coping mechanisms for nine unique personality types.

You can learn the blind spots of your personality in a matter of months with the Enneagram, when it takes most people a lifetime to learn that much about themselves. I’ve used this tool to help thousands of people know themselves better, navigate their relationships and even improve the way they’re running their businesses. We have a thriving Instagram community of people working with this tool to know themselves and others in intimate detail.

Each month I choose a book recommendation for our community dedicated to each Enneagram type—a good read that will help each number to work with themselves to be more of who they want to be in the world. Keep reading to learn a bit about what each number often struggles with, as well as why I recommended each book for each number. If you aren’t sure of your number yet, you can take the free test and read about the types over at enneagraminstitute.com.

Type 1—The Reformer

Every enneagram 1 has a voice in their head telling them how they could do better and be better at every given moment. Their inner thoughts are riddled with the awareness that there is always something to improve upon. It’s not uncommon for type 1s to learn their number and start to feel like they need to be better about how they perceive others. They usually get to work on being less critical of things and people—which is great, but it’s not the full picture.

The missing piece here is that 1s are way harder on themselves than they are on others. For our 1s, the work is getting their mind to be kind to them and that will overflow into the rest of their life. Banish Your Inner Critic should be a mantra for every type 1 and a staple in their home.

Type 2—The Helper

Type 2s walk into every situation very aware of how the people around them are feeling and what they need. They can unconsciously focus on the emotional and physical needs of those around them, and they’re amazing at loving the people in their lives. What can go unnoticed for a 2 is the fact that they themselves have needs—2s aren’t always aware that they are offering love because they are in pursuit of feeling loved themselves.

The main work for a type 2 is in learning to be the source of love for themselves first and then give to others from their overflow. Self-Love Experiment walks you through practical steps to falling more in love with yourself and your life. The gift in this for a 2 is showing them that they have everything they need to do this without involving other people in the process. Learning that they are worthy of this kind of attention from themselves is a huge step for our 2s, but such an important one.

Type 3—The Achiever

When I think of our type 3s, I think of a figure climbing a mountain. It’s the biggest peak that they’ve ever seen and they have set their minds to climbing it and making it to the top. They work and they work and they work until they arrive to the peak sweating, exhausted and hungry—only to find that just beyond their eyesight is an even bigger mountain to climb. They set their eyes to the next peak and this cycle continues, until one day they realize that the peaks are never-ending.

So when do we stop? Hustle & Float teaches you to find the rhythm between rest, productivity and inspired creation. More than any number, type 3s need to learn and accept the space between accomplishments and learn to sit in that space for a while.

Type 4—The Individualist

It’s not uncommon for type 4s to find themselves in a loop of self-destructive behaviors, making choice after choice that keeps them feeling like something inside of them must be flawed. When things aren’t working out for them, type 4s can become angry at themselves and self-indulgent in the negative emotions associated with perceived failure. It can become a pattern of making choices that sabotage their happiness, sinking into the feeling that they are flawed in a way that others aren’t, and then turning their anger inward and feeling shame that they are in the position they are in.

The work here for our 4s is actually quite straightforward: Change your behavior and change your life. How to Stop Feeling Like Sh*t runs through common behaviors that keep people stuck in autopilot and pushes you to take the reins of your life. It helps you to choose an intentional life full of incredible and beautiful things. When 4s really tap into discipline and intentionality—as many of them do—they open up a new level of being that is rarely done justice by anyone other than our emotionally attune, highly aware and complex 4s.

Type 5—The Investigator

To appeal to a type 5, you must appeal to their intellect. You need to show that you’ve done your research, that there are facts to support your theories and that you are a credible source of information. The same thing goes for changing the habits of a type 5. Our type 5 friends respond best to supported arguments and fully examined ideas. When thinking of how to positively impact the life of a 5, a few things come to mind.

Most type 5s need to learn to take action before they think they’re ready, they need to learn to connect more intimately and they need to get in touch with their bodies. The root of it all for our 5s—the thing that will really help them make the shifts they want to make—is all in their understanding of why they’re making those choices in the first place. That’s why I chose The Brain That Changes Itself: It delves deep into neuroplasticity and how our brains actually are changeable. We can adapt as humans, even down to our brain chemistry! I anticipate this being fascinating enough for our type 5s to shift their belief in what we are capable of as human beings.

Type 6—The Loyalist

If I could wave a magic wand and impart a single gift to our type 6s, it would be the belief that everything always works out for our good. That in this moment we are safe and that no matter what happens in our life, we will ultimately be OK. There is no amount of effort or overthinking that can prevent pain, and there is no amount of restlessness that is worth attempting to.

The Universe Has Your Back is dedicated to helping people make the shift from fear to faith. It unlocks the potential inside of us to stop focusing on certainty and to find a feeling of safety right where you are.

Type 7—The Enthusiast

Type 7s fear being trapped in emotional pain. One of their coping mechanisms to deal with this fear is a constant pursuit of the next great moment. Once a 7 has finished planning something beautiful and they enter into the reality of doing that thing, they find that the thing itself is less rewarding than the act of preparing for it seemed to be.

As a fun-prepping 7 myself, I can remember distinctly standing in front of the Eiffel Tower for the first time and turning to the person next to me saying, “I can’t wait for our next trip.” The trouble here is that nothing is ever quite enough. There’s always more good that could come in, and the day-to-day reality of the things you’ve prepped for is a bit lackluster in comparison to preparing for the next great thing. The work of the 7 is to truly live in the moment, to absorb the magic in everyday simplicity and to not overspend and over-consume in pursuit of feeling 10 percent better than normal. The Power of Now teaches the art of being fully present. It shows that so much of our strife comes from the pursuit of the future or dwelling on the past. When a 7 can truly embrace the art of living in the moment, so much of what they’re trying to prevent is actually solved.

Type 8—The Challenger

Our type 8s value strength. They spend a significant amount of energy preserving the idea that they are powerful and therefore they are not weak and controllable. This can take beautiful manifestations, such as taking the lead in protecting those that are underserved. It can mean saying something that needs to be said when others are scared to take that risk. However, it can also mean that many of our 8s never rest. They don’t have a safe space to land because they fear the vulnerability that comes with letting their guard down.

The language in the title of this book alone is important for our 8s: The Power of Vulnerability. Too often we see vulnerability as a sign of weakness. Yet it’s actually the act of vulnerability that increases our strength as people and as a society. Plus, Brown’s writing is straightforward, honest and no-nonsense, which appeals to the 8s’ respect for direct communication.

Type 9—The Peacemaker

It’s my belief that enneagram 9s are one of our greatest untapped resources. An awakened type 9 has the deep awareness of perspective paired with insightful solutions to common problems. Type 9s have the kind of voices that our society needs to hear the most. They see from all perspectives, they approach the world with non-judgement and they understand that we are all just trying our best. They seek to do as little harm as possible.

Yet, many of our 9s don’t know how valuable their voice is and feel overwhelmed at the thought of discovering how they will share that with the world. It’s easy for a type 9 to talk themselves out of new endeavors with the thought of potential future stress and the fear that they could be just another voice that makes the world too loud. The Year of Yes is the perfect prescription for our 9s. I recommend most 9s simply take action without concern for what that will mean long-term. They truly just need to get up, get out and try some stuff. Once a 9 finds their form of expression, they will follow through. That’s not the problem. The trouble is getting them to take the action to find their thing in the first place—and The Year of Yes is designed to do just that.

For more enneagram related content, we can connect over at @enneagramandcoffee on Instagram or through my podcast Enneagram & Coffee.

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